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News
Winter 2003 News President’s Letter By Carol J. Rowland Hogue In this Issue: 3 Schottenfeld Receives Lilienfeld Award 3 Student Prize Paper Award Goes to UNC Graduate 5 Symposia on the New Epidemiology of Age, Sex, Race Highlights New Epidemiologic Findings 6 Poster Session Displays 106 Presentations, Awards Prizes 7 Minority Affairs Program Moves Ahead It is with great pleasure and profound humility that I write to you as President of the College. It is a daunting task to try to follow in the footsteps of founders such as Abraham Lilienfeld and David Schottenfeld, our 2002 Lilienfeld Award recipient, and the stellar list of past presidents who have served since ACE was founded in 1979. I am proud that ACE is an active organization, with members eagerly volunteering to work for the good of our profession. The results of your labors make a difference. For example, this past year the Policy Committee closely tracked the National Institutes of Health process for defining its Boundary Panel and Integrative Review Groups. As each draft Boundary Panel was announced, the Policy Committee sent a letter explaining the need for epidemiologic studies to be reviewed by epidemiologists with an understanding of epidemiologic methodologies. Subsequently, we have learned that NIH will maintain its epidemiology study sections rather than distribute epidemiocontinued on page 2 Albuquerque Hosts One of ACE’s Most Successful Meetings By Paul H. Levine The 21st annual meeting of the American College of Epidemiology held at the Sheraton Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico, proved to be the second best attended ACE annual meeting, drawing 274 registrants. After welcoming talks by President Richard Kaslow and Dr. Cosette Wheeler of the Host Committee, the keynote speaker former congressman Stewart Udall gave an entertaining and insightful perspective on the environmental issues facing the country. He detailed the past success bringing the radiation hazards of the nuclear testing and underground uranium mining to public attention and appropriate legislation, including his description of the important contributions of Past President Jonathan Samet who had arranged for Congressman Udall’s presentation and introduced him. As Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior in the Kennedy administration, Rep. Udall had been a continued on page 4 Lilienfeld Awardee David Schottenfeld (left) and Keynote Speaker Stewart Udall (right). Photo by Paul H. Levine. 2 President’s Letter continued from page 1 logic proposals to panels that might lack a critical mass of members with epidemiologic expertise. Concurrently, the Policy Committee tracked draft regulations promulgating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). ACE joined other medical research organizations in recommending changes that should ease researchers’ burden without increasing respondents’ burden. Now that HIPAA regulations will be implemented in 2003, our work is just beginning. We need to track problems in doing our research related to the regulations. When you experience problems, I ask you to communicate your experience to the Policy Committee at our Web site ([email protected]). Also, when you discover innovative methods to “live with” the rules, I ask you to share those as well. We will focus on this issue in September at our annual meeting in Chicago. Still another concern we are addressing is the recent decision of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to stop releasing the Medicare Name and Address File directly to researchers. The Policy Committee is soliciting advice from our members whether we should prepare a formal response to this change in policy. In carrying out our mission to promote the professional development of epidemiologists through educational initiatives, we continue to offer outstanding continuing education workshops in conjunction with our annual meeting. After a year’s hiatus, in 2003 we will also be providing workshops prior to the annual Society for Epidemiologic Research meeting in Atlanta. This newsletter includes a summary of our 2002 annual meeting in Albuquerque. I would like to personally thank Drs. Patricia Hartge and Roseanne McTyre for their tireless efforts over the last several years not only to lead event planning but also to develop an enduring structure for assuring consistently high quality presentations. Another major educational initiative, led by former ACE President Dr. Jonathon Samet, is the workshop on doctoral education. Held this month, and co-sponsored with the Association of Schools of Public Health, this workshop focuses timely attention on the core educational needs of the epidemiologic workforce. Last, but certainly not least, the Annals of Epidemiology continues to improve, as measured by its impact factor. To improve the timeliness of reporting, we are happy to report that Elsevier will place the entire backlog of papers accepted by the Annals of Epidemiology on the ScienceDirect Web site. Our mission does not stop with education, but continues with recruiting both Fellows and Members, particularly from underrepresented populations. This year for the first time our workshops included a free, day-long training session for epidemiologists and community partners, developed by our Minority Affairs Committee. We plan to offer a similar workshop in Chicago in 2003. ACE has endorsed an ambitious plan to increase the number of minority epidemiologists and to enhance epidemiologic research designed to improve the health of minority populations and eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. We welcome your active involvement as we strive to carry out our mission. Please feel free to communicate with me directly ([email protected]) or through our Web site. I look forward to hearing from you. ACE National Office 1500 Sunday Drive Suite 102 Raleigh, NC 27607 Tel: (919) 861-5573 Fax: (919) 787-4916 ACE Web Site: www.acepidemiology.org Newsletter Editor: Paul H. Levine Managing Editor: Peter Kralka Retiring President Richard Kaslow discusses the transition with incoming President Carol Hogue at the Albuquerque meeting. Photo by Paul H. Levine. 3 UNC Graduate Wins 2002 ACE Student Prize Paper Award By Clark W. Heath, Jr. David Schottenfeld (right), winner of the 2002 Lilienfeld Award, makes a comment to Clark Heath, Chairman of the Awards Committee, during his address to the membership. Mrs. Heath is on the left. Photo by Peter Kralka. ACE 2002 Lilienfeld Award By Clark W. Heath, Jr. The 2002 Lilienfeld Award was presented to David Schottenfeld, MD, MSc, at the annual ACE meeting held in September in Albuquerque. Dr. Schottenfeld is the John G. Searle Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and concurrently Professor of Medicine at the UM School of Medicine. His career amply meets the criteria for the Lilienfeld Award: distinguished contributions through research, teaching, and practice of epidemiology. He is perhaps best known for his leadership of the annual summer course in epidemiology, held since 1987 at UM in Ann Arbor, and for his editing of the widely used cancer epidemiology text, “Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention.” That text, first published in 1975 and then reissued in 1982 and 1996 with Dr. Joseph Fraumeni as co-editor, is now in the process of yet a further edition. Dr. Schottenfeld received his MD degree from Cornell University in 1956 and thereafter completed three years of clinical training: one year at Duke University and two years at Bellevue and Memorial Hospitals in New York City. In 1959 he entered the Epidemic Intelligence Service at CDC, serving his second year on assignment with Abe Lilienfeld himself at Johns Hopkins. That year led to a close relationship with Dr. Lilienfeld throughout the following years until Dr. Lilienfeld’s death in 1984. After a further year in clinical work at Memorial Hospital, Dr. Schottenfeld earned his MSc degree in 1963 at the Harvard School of Health. He then joined the staff of the Department of Public Health at Cornell Medical College in New York City where he remained for some 13 years, rising to the level of professor. In 1986 he assumed his present positions at UM, serving also as Head of the Department of Epidemiology from 1986 through 1991. ACE was honored to present Dr. Schottenfeld with the Lilienfeld Award, to have him and his wife Rosalie at the annual meeting, and, on the occasion of the ACE Banquet, to hear his personal reflections regarding his career in epidemiology and his particular contacts with Dr. Lilienfeld himself. The 2002 Student Prize Paper Award was presented at the ACE Annual Meetimg to Wiwan Sanasuttipun, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., for her paper entitled “Particulate Air Pollution and Lung Cancer: A CaseControl Study in Connecticut, Utah, and Idaho”. Dr. Sanasuttipun is presently a Guest Researcher in the Epidemiology Branch of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Her paper represents work she did as a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC). She received her doctoral degree at UNC in December 2001. Her co-authors on the paper were D.P. Sandler, C.R. Weinberg, D.L. Shore, C.M. Shy, and D.P. Loomis. The findings reported in the paper showed that longterm exposure to increased levels of total suspended particles in air significantly increased risk of lung cancer, the risk being greater in Connecticut than in the western states and the joint effects with smoking being multiplicative. In developing her research work, Dr. Sanasuttipun made use of a large casecontrol study already underway at NIEHS/UNC exploring the possible relationship of residential radon exposures to lung cancer risk. Instead of radon data, however, she made use of the national particulate air pollution data base maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency and estimated individual case and control exposure levels by means of computerized technology available through the geographical information system (GIS). Dr. Sanaputtipun presented her paper at the Annual Meeting on September 24. 4 Albuquerque Hosts One of ACE’s Most Successful Meetings continued from page 1 therapy, Dr. Kaslow focused on the close observer of the Cuban missile crisis, useful in the growing field of molecular Internet and the significant misinformawhich he cited as arguably the greatest epidemiology. The workshop on Multition from supposedly reputable WEB danger to our country in the 20th century. level Analysis in Public Health, conducted sites. Dr. Kaslow closed emphasizing the He expressed concern over the current by Ana Diez Roux of the Columbia importance of getting more members emphasis on bioterrorism, suggesting that University School of Public Health and involved in the organization, more the money and the energy being poured Ron Harris of the University of Texas, involvement with other health-care into an implied threat which may be less informed a packed audience on the oriented groups devastating than appropriate applications of a variety of urging modificalocal needs also techniques to research investigations. A tions of the HIPPA requiring competunique and successful workshop develregulations, and ing funds. His oped by Minority Affairs Chairperson urging more comments were an Vickie Mays brought the Native American thought as to how excellent preview of and Latino Communities together with ACE can generate the Policy Forum interested attendees in a format that additional funds to on “Epidemiology included visits into the communities. implement its After 9/11: Time to The poster session had 106 excellent program as well as Rearrange Priorities posters and awards were given to Jessica better ways of for Public Health?” Davila (PhD from Baylor College of publicizing it. That session was Medicine, Houston TX), Julie Kranick moderated by The three panels (MA from Columbia University, New Carlos Camargo on “Age, Sex, and York, NY), Lorraine Halinka Malcoe and included talks Michael Stoto discusses bioterrorism Race: Towards a (PhD from the University of New Mexico, by Scott Lillibridge, concerns at Policy Forum New UnderstandAlbuquerque) and Sandro Galea (MD, Michael Stoto, and ing for EpidemiolMPH from New York Academy of Brian Strom. The speakers highlighted the ogy,” were informative and attracted Medicine, New York, NY). (See article on many federal, state, and local changes that considerable discussion. These and other page 6.) have occurred since 9/11/01. All speakers meeting activities, many of them deencouraged members of ACE to play a The uniformly excellent weather, the local scribed elsewhere in this Newsletter, more active role in this ongoing process. hospitality and nourishments, and the included continued progress on the ACE The current climate provides tremendous provocative program provided a challengMaster Plan and a smooth transition in opportunities for those interested in ing model for next year’s meeting in leadership, including the membership’s bioterrorism preparedness and response, Chicago. acknowledgment of the or in simply strengthening the US public many accomplishments health infrastructure. Even those who under Past President strongly oppose these changes—because of Richard Kaslow and a a concern about misplaced priorities— warm welcome to new were encouraged to speak out in order President Carol Hogue. to preserve a comprehensive and more balanced public health agenda. In the final Several of the successful half-hour, numerous members had an approaches that mark the opportunity to voice a range of opinions ACE meetings continued about this controversial topic. to be well presented, well attended and well Dr. Kaslow, in discussing his term as received. For the third President, noted that his emphasis has consecutive year, Jack been on human determinants of infection Taylor of the National and this has led him to concentrate on the Institute of Environmenevolution and adaptation of agent and tal Health Sciences host to the environment. He discussed updated the epidemiolIncoming President Carol Hogue presents outgoing President ACE’s history transforming itself into a ogy community on the Richard Kaslow with a plaque thanking him for his very different organization with different current status of important contributions to ACE over the past year. challenges. In addition to the issues of molecular genetics which Photo by Peter Kralka. bioterrorism and the changing epidemiocontinues to be extremely logic perspective on hormone replacement 5 Symposia Target the New Epidemiology of Age, Sex and Race Three symposia were presented at the Albuquerque meeting focusing on the changing parameters involving the well established parameters of age, sex and race in epidemiology. Age The first symposium, which focused on age, noted that as our population continues to age and our knowledge of the biology and needs of the aging increase, we continue to gain new information on the changing epidemiology of the aging. This first of three ACE symposia in Albuquerque, organized by Dr. Tamara Harris of the National Institutes on Aging and moderated by Dr. Paul Levine of The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, had four experienced speakers with different areas of concentration. The first, Dr. Lenore Launer, also from the National Institute on Aging, focused on the risk factors for dementia measured in middle age vs. old age. Dr. Launer began with the crossover of cholesterol and blood pressure which if elevated, is a sign of poor health in the younger population and then is predictor of better health in the aged. She then noted that early body mass index and weight were more important than the same parameters at the time of a major event, the importance of gender (e.g. females have a higher incidence of specific problems after age 65 and education is more important in females than males), the data regarding whether Alzheimer’s is a vascular disease, and the conflicts between prospective studies and case-control studies on the relationship between smoking and Alzheimer’s. Dr. Beatriz Rodriguez from the University of Hawaii discussed problems related to research on diabetes in the aged. The classification of diabetes by the American Diabetic Association (ADA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are not the same, and the epidemiologic data differ according to which classification is used. As an example of the problems, the ADA focuses on fasting blood sugar alone and not the two-hour post-prandial blood sugar (PPBS). Dr. Richard Baumgartner from the University of New Mexico alerted many of the attendees to the issue of the causes and consequences of sarcopenic obesity in old age. Sarcopenia is slow erosion of muscle mass and is associated with low socioeconomic status in the aging population. It is also associated with cognitive impairment and there was considerable discussion about whether physical activity is a cause (no data) and whether it is preventable. Dr. George Kaplan from the University of Michigan presented data from work he completed with his colleague, Jennifer Balfour, on the social determinants of aging. Dr. Kaplan put the problem of aging in a global perspective, noting that 2/3 of the elderly will be in developing countries. He also noted that there are now more centenarians than in the total past history of the world. In addition to the contribution of income and education, Dr. Kaplan discussed the impact of neighborhood deprivation, including problems with traffic, trash, lighting, crime, transportation and noise. A number of issues were raised in the Q&A period, such as the possible biases involved in who gets two-hour PPBS, whether the protective effect of NSAIDS for Alzheimer’s should be used in a prevention trial, and the question of why sarcopenic obesity is associated with osteoporosis if obesity protects against osteoporosis. Sex The second panel, entitled “When Epidemiologists Think about Sex: Gender and Epidemiology,” was moderated by Maureen C. Hatch of the National Cancer Institute and was co-organized by Marlene B. Goldman, New England Research Institutes, who opened with a discussion of gender gaps in cancer risks. She was followed by Michael D. Lockshin, of the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Disease, who discussed the role of gender in autoimmune diseases. The third speaker in the panel, Roberta Ness of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, covered the topic of “The Influence of Reproductive Events on Later Cardiac Disease.” Finally, Ellen Silbergeld, University of Maryland, addressed “Lessons Learned: How Should We Measure the Effects of Gender and Health on Disease?” continued on page 10 6 Manuscripts “In Press” Go Online Annals of Epidemiology, the official journal of the American College of Epidemiology, now offers the online service Articles in Press for all manuscripts accepted for publication. This service, available through Elsevier Sciences ScienceDirect, allows all accepted manuscripts to be posted on the World Wide Web within 15 days of receiving the author’s corrected proofs. Authors will greatly benefit from this increased visibility and speedy, online publication process. Articles in Press takes full advantage of the enhanced ScienceDirect functionality, including the ability to be cited. This is possible due to the innovative use of the DOI article identifier, which enables the citation of a paper before volume and issue numbers are allocated. The manuscript posted to Articles in Press will automatically be replaced online as soon as the final version has been published in the printed journal. This service has been launched for Annals of Epidemiology, which you can access today via your institution’s subscription to ScienceDirect at www.sciencedirect.com or the WHO HINARI initiative at www.healthinternetwork.org. Meeting participants browse the many aisles of posters. Posters on Breast Cancer Survival and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Win Awards in Albuquerque By Irene Hall The Albuquerque meeting attracted 106 abstracts for the poster session, more than any previous meeting. Two types of poster prizes were awarded, one for student posters and one for posters overall. First prize for the student award went to Julie Kranick for a poster entitled “Does Subsequent Pregnancy Influence Breast Cancer Survival” and Jessica Davila won first place overall for her poster on “Birth Cohort Effects and the Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.” Relation to Intimate Partner Violence Against Native-American Women” and Sandro Galea who won third place for a poster on “Changing Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Homicide Mortality in NYC 1990-98: the Role of Drugs.” The process this year, overseen by Irene Hall, involved two reviews with abstracts reviewed by a panel of seven reviewers and the posters evaluated by six judges, with Polly Marchbanks chairing the poster judges committee. Other awardees included Lorraine Malcoe whose poster addressed “Social Stressors in New Phone Number In order to better serve our members, we have created a direct phone line to our staff. Now you can reach us with all inquiries at (919) 861-5573. Our fax number, mailing address and e-mail address remain the same. 7 Minority Affairs Committee Inaugurates an Annual Preconvention Workshop By Vickie Mays The Minority Affairs Committee has hit the ground running this year thanks to the President's appointment of several new members and the leadership of Vickie Mays, who was appointed its Chair. The current activities of the Minority Affairs Committee build on its long history of commitment to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the fields of epidemiology and biostatistics, to bring science and scholarship to the study of health problems of racial/ ethnic minorities and to stimulate leadership in the College in the development of policies that support these goals. mately 50 workshop participants benefited from presentations and small group working sessions with Nina Wallerstein, Felicia Hodges, Helen Hazuda, Nancy Reifel, and Alex Ortega. A highlight for all were the presentations by funding agencies who support community-based participatory research. Drs. Ronit Elk (ACS) and Willo Pequegnat (NIMH) were joined by NIEHS in providing tips and offering individual meetings to those interested in the funding of epidemiologic research that utilizes community-based participatory research methods. In keeping with its goal of the development of minority epidemiologists, the meeting was attended by a group of middle school children from the nearby In 2002 the committee, as part of its rebuilding effort, developed a strategic plan which appears on the ACE Web site. A highlight of that strategic plan is a yearly preconvention meeting with the goals to offer to the College and its attendees a scientific workshop that Students pay close attention to a discussion led by Bill Jenkins at delves in depth the Minority Affairs workshop. Photo by Victor J. Schoenbach. into some aspect of minority health of interest to the work of pueblos. During the lunch hour the epidemiologists, as a means of drawing students participated in a slide show those interested in minority health to the developed by Johns Hopkins graduate College as members and to increase the student Nora Lee. (You can see the young knowledge base in epidemiology on epidemiologists-to-be (above) at the minority health issues. annual meeting). The presentation was designed to increase the young students’ This year's meeting, entitled "Commuknowledge of public health and in nity-Based Participatory Research in particular epidemiology. American Indian and Latino Communities: Epidemiologists in the Community," Nora was joined by the committee's was a great success thanks to the dynamic previous Chair Bill Jenkins, current Chair presentations and hands-on small working Vickie Mays, Vic Schoenbach, committee groups with experts in CBPR. Approxisecretary (thanks for the photos), and Johns Hopkins graduate student Nora Lee. Photo by Victor J. Schoenbach. Willo Pequegnat (NIH) plus a visit from Board Member Camara Jones. Nora is interested in working with graduate students at other universities to expand this excellent outreach effort. The Committee is indebted to the University of California's Office of the President's Special Assistant Dr. Rae Lee Sipiron for her organization of this event and the underwriting of the luncheon and transportation to bring the students to the meeting. Minority Affairs is looking forward to working with Dr. Shafdeen Amuwo and his graduate students at the University of Illinois at the Chicago meeting in continuing this tradition of outreach in the service of increasing the interest of racial/ethnic minorities in a career in epidemiology. If you think you would like to serve as one of the role model epidemiologists to discuss career options please contact me as we welcome your involvement in planning next year's activities. As outlined in the strategic plan, next year's preconvention meeting theme is Measurement Issues. Planning for the preconvention meeting will get underway sometime soon as Minority Affairs coordinates with the board. During the Albuquerque ACE meeting, Minority Affairs activated two ad hoc continued on page 9 8 Epidemiology on the Front Line and Under Fire Focusing attention on the practical and methodological issues of conducting epidemiologic research today ACE Annual Meeting Chicago September 7- 9, 2003 What can be learned to improve analytic epidemiologic methods after events such as cancellation of the main arm of the Women’s Health Initiative study? What methods may assist researchers deal with data collection issues arising from HIPAA, pressures on informed consent, and other challenges to clinical research? Are cancer registries still viable? Why are there not surveillance programs for diabetes, asthma, and other major health threats? Now that the genetic code is written, what is the need for population-based studies? We propose to tackle these and other challenges to the discipline at the 2003 meeting. If you would like to help plan the program, please contact Faye Davis ([email protected]) or Carol Hogue ([email protected]). 9 ACE Board Encourages Members to Join a Committee At the ACE Board meeting in Albuquerque, one of the discussion items was the importance of increasing involvement of members in a variety of committee activities. Working on committees is an excellent way for new (or established) members to learn more about ACE, helping themselves as well as the organization in its various projects. Membership Committee [email protected] Any members wishing to participate in committee activities should either contact the committee chairperson if a specific area is of interest or contact Peter Kralka at [email protected]. There is also a form on ACE’s Web site (www.acepidemiology.com) that can be used for printing and faxing to ACE headquarters at (919) 787-4916. Publications Committee [email protected] The current committees and contact information are as follows: Admissions Committee [email protected] Awards Committee [email protected] Communications Committee [email protected] Education Committee [email protected] Ethics and Standards of Practice [email protected] Finance Committee [email protected] Minority Affairs Committee [email protected] Nominating Committee [email protected] Policy Committee [email protected] Newsletter Opportunities The ACE Newsletter is seeking two editors: an overall Newsletter Editor and a Photo Editor. The Editor would be phased in over a few months, working with the current Editor and assuming responsible for future issues in mid-2003. Photographs are important to the Newsletter in enhancing its appearance as well as helping members match names with faces. The Photo Editor is a new position and he/she would have the primary responsibility for planning the photographs for the next issue in conjunction with the Editor, selecting the best photos to match the planned stories, and developing a photo file useful for future issues. For more information about either opportunity, please contact Paul Levine at [email protected]. Minority Affairs Committee continued from page 7 committees. One co-chaired by Olivia Pokras Carter and Vickie Mays will look at the policy implications for epidemiologic research on racial/ethnic minorities of the California Racial Privacy Initatitive. This initiative is designed to remove the collection of race/ethnicity by the State of California with the exception of specific areas. The Ad Hoc committee will explore the possible impact of this initiative on health research for racial/ethnic minorities. The committee will work with the Policy Committee after it has researched the issue to determine whether the College may want to take a position on the matter. The second Ad Hoc Committee, chaired by Bill Jenkins, will evaluate the preconvention workshops held by Minority Affairs. Minority Affairs will then present to the board a proposal outlining a structure and request for these meetings to be held annually. Any interested members who want to volunteer to work with Minority Affairs should contact the Chair at [email protected]. In particular, the Minority Affairs Committee is looking to appoint an Ad Hoc Committee to begin the work of Curricular Offerings in Epidemiology on racial/ethnic groups. The strategic plan which is on the ACE Web site provides an overview of this project. Aaron Blair leads a challenging breakfast roundtable on “Cancer Risks and Pesticides: Challenges in Environmental Epidemiology.” Breakfast roundtables continue to be a popular feature of ACE sessions and this year’s roundtable, organized by Patricia Hartge, included eight sessions attended by more than 60 participants. Photo by Paul H. Levine. 10 Symposia Target the New Epidemiology of Age, Sex and Race continued from page 5 Race The third panel of the meeting, “Ethnicity and Epidemiology: Casting ‘Race’ in a New Light,” was an exciting close to what had already proven to be a very stimulating meeting. Although measures of race have been associated with a wide variety of health conditions, what race means with respect to health status, and whether race means the same thing regardless of health condition remains largely unexamined. The panel successfully explored “race” as a proxy for socioeconomic status, culture, and genes, and introduced the notion that “race” measures exposure to racism in our “race”-conscious society. Incoming ACE President Carol Hogue moderated the session, Camara Phyllis Jones (CDC) presented four different approaches to measuring racism, Sylvia Guendelman (UC Berkeley) presented data highlighting the impact of acculturation on the health of recent Mexican immigrants, and Charles M. Rotimi (Howard University) explored the roles of genes and the lack of a genetic basis to “race.” Contributing to this article were Carol Hogue, Camara Jones and Paul Levine Visit the American College of Epidemiology Web site at: www.acepidemiology.org ACE Call for Abstracts Annual Meeting of the American College of Epidemiology Epidemiology on the Front Line and Under Fire: Focusing attention on methodologic and practical issues of conducting epidemiologic research Chicago, IL, September 7-9, 2003 The American College of Epidemiology invites the submission of abstracts for consideration for poster presentations. Poster presentations provide an opportunity for participants in the ACE annual meeting to share their work with interested colleagues in an informal, relaxed setting. Poster sessions are prominently scheduled during the meeting. Poster sessions will include poster discussion groups and oral presentations by some authors. Prizes will be awarded for the best studentprepared poster. Your abstract will be published in the program and in the Annals of Epidemiology, the official journal of the American College of Epidemiology. Abstracts may be reformatted for journal publication so that all abstracts appear in uniform type. By following the instructions, you will guarantee that your abstract will appear as you intended. Instruction on submitting abstracts can be found at ACE’s Web site at http://www.acepidemiology.org/meetings/2003chicago/abstractform.doc Abstracts should be prepared according to the instructions provided. Abstracts must be received via e-mail by April 1, 2003. Please submit your abstracts to [email protected] FAX AND MAIL submissions will NOT be accepted. Keywords Aging Genetics Pediatrics Behavioral Health Services Pharmacoepidemiology Biomarkers HIV/AIDS Pregnancy Birth Defects Infection Psychiatric Cancer Injury Public Health Practice Cardiovascular/Stroke Methods Reproductive Clinical Molecular Social Diabetes Neuroepidemiology Substance Abuse Emerging Infections Nutrition Women’s Health Environment Occupational Ethics Other For additional information about the meeting or abstract submission, contact the ACE at (919) 861-5573 or email the college at [email protected]. Information about the College and the 2003 Annual Meeting may be found at ACE’s Web site: www.acepidemiology.org. Please consider attending one of the continuing education workshops on Sunday. 11 American College of Epidemiology Abraham Lilienfeld Award Call for Nominations The American College of Epidemiology invites nominations for the Abraham Lilienfeld Award. (Past awardees can be viewed at http://www.acepidemiology.org/awards/LilienfeldAwardees.htm) The College’s most prestigious award is given in honor of Abraham Lilienfeld, outstanding teacher, scholar, and founder of the American College of Epidemiology. Fellows and members of the College are invited to nominate appropriate candidates for this honor. Please submit a letter stating the special qualifications and contributions of the candidate to excellence in epidemiology. A copy of the candidate’s curriculum vitae must also be enclosed. The deadline for receipt of nominations for the 2004 Award is October 31, 2003. The award is conferred each year at the Annual Meeting. The Lilienfeld Awardee has the opportunity to address Fellows and Members of the College during the Annual Meeting program. Lilienfeld Awardees also are recognized as lifetime Honorary Fellows of the College. Please send your nominations to: Clark W. Heath, Jr., MD, Chair, Awards Committee American College of Epidemiology 1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102, Raleigh, NC 27607 Ph: 919-861-5573 • Fax: 919-787-4916 E-mail c/o: [email protected] American College of Epidemiology Student Prize – Call for Papers The American College of Epidemiology invites submissions for the 2003 Student Prize. This prize recognizes an outstanding scientific contribution by a student of epidemiology. (Past awardees can be viewed at http://www.acepidemiology.org/awards/StudentPrizePaperAwardees.htm) Students who are eligible for Associate Member status are invited to submit a paper. To be eligible, students must be in training or have completed training no earlier than July 1, 2002. The submitted paper should contain the findings of original research conducted by the student during training and should be suitable for publication. The style should follow the format of the Annals of Epidemiology. Papers submitted may be sole-authored, or, if co-authored, the student should be the lead author and the student’s advisor must provide a letter documenting the roles of the student and co-authors. The Student Prize will consist of: • Financial assistance to attend the Annual Meeting of the American College of Epidemiology. • Expeditious review of the paper for publication in the Annals of Epidemiology. • Presentation of the paper at the meeting. • A special recognition award from the College. The deadline for receipt of submissions is March 31, 2003. Six copies of the paper and advisor’s letter, if appropriate, and a cover letter indicating address for correspondence (please include postal and e-mail addresses as well as telephone and fax numbers) should be sent to: Clark W. Heath, Jr., MD, Chair, Awards Committee American College of Epidemiology 1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102, Raleigh, NC 27607 Ph: 919-861-5573 • Fax: 919-787-4916 E-mail c/o: [email protected] 12 2002-2003 ACE Board of Directors President Treasurer Carol J. Rowland Hogue, PhD, MPH E-mail: [email protected] James J. Collins, PhD E-mail: [email protected] President-Elect Board of Directors Carlos A. Camargo Jr., MD, DrPH E-mail: [email protected] Roger H. Bernier, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Immediate Past President Aaron E. Blair, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Richard A. Kaslow, MD E-mail: [email protected] Secretary John Acquavella, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Melissa Bondy, PhD [email protected] Betsy Foxman, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Marlene B. Goldman, ScD E-mail: [email protected] 1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102, Raleigh, NC 27607 Phone: (919) 861-5573; Fax: (919) 787-4916 www.acepidemiology.org Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Nancy Kreiger, MPH, PhD [email protected] Martha S. Linet, MD E-mail: [email protected] Rosanne B. McTyre, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Colin L. Soskolne, PhD E-mail: [email protected] Zuo-Feng Zhang, MD, PhD [email protected]